Illinois State quarterback Beckham Pellant is aiming for consistency this spring as the Redbirds begin practices Tuesday in Normal. (Photo by Barry Bottino, PrairieStatePigskin.com)
By Barry Bottino
Last year, Beckham Pellant was the lone quarterback on the field for Illinois State during spring practices.
With Tommy Rittenhouse recovering from off-season surgery, Pellant was the only healthy player at the position.
Starting Tuesday, when 2026 spring practices begin, Pellant will be front and center at the position as he begins the quest to replace the record-setting Rittenhouse, who led ISU all the way to a national runner-up finish in January.
The Redbirds will complete spring ball with an annual scrimmage April 11.
“Well, I won’t be taking every rep, which is nice,” Pellant joked. “It will be a lot of weight off my back in that sense. I’m excited to work hard and compete and show what I can do.”
Quarterback is among the key position battles this spring at ISU, which enjoyed a remarkable playoff run last season.
Playing 17 games allowed Pellant, a redshirt sophomore, to work side-by-side with Rittenhouse and hone his preparation.
“Just getting into that routine of watching film, practicing, game planning and what we were trying to do helped us to find our identity,” Pellant said. “As a quarterback, you have to know every little detail of the game plan.”
Beginning this week, Pellant wants that experience to translate onto the field.
“I’m much more comfortable with the playbook, with making the calls, whether it be in protection, run game, pass game,” he said. “That’s the biggest jump I took from last spring to now.”
Pellant expressed confidence in being able to make every throw necessary in the offense, along with a growth in terms of correcting “mental mistakes.”
His focus this spring is simple.
“I want to show consistency,” Pellant said. “I want this spring to be about consistently making the right decisions. Quarterback decisions are the most important thing in our offense.”
Working directly with Rittenhouse over the past two years provided plenty of lessons and a strong relationship.
“Tommy was an incredible mentor to me,” Pellant said. “We’d go to church together every Sunday. On the field, he was incredibly helpful when there was something I was confused about. That really helped my game.”
Here’s a look at three key position battles entering spring practices:
Quarterback
Competing along with Pellant will be USC grad transfer Gage Roy, who spent the last four years with the Trojans and appeared in four games after a productive prep career in Dallas.
“It’s going to be very, very important that they know how to run our offense,” Spack said. “That will be the most important thing. I want to see them compete, and I’m hoping for a really close, good competition.”
Spack said the QB group will be tested with as many game-like situations as possible.
“It’s different when you have 11 guys coming after you,” he said. “It’s chaotic. You’ve got to know where you’re going with the football.”
Spack also said he expects redshirt freshmen Chase Kwiatkowski and Cooper Kmet take reps as well.
Cornerback
Shadwel Nkuba II (team-high five interceptions) and Cam Wilson (team-best 14 pass breakups) are gone, opening the door for a plethora of new faces.
East Carolina transfer Key Crowell, a junior, led D-II Indianapolis with five interceptions in 2024 while earning first-team all-conference honors. His 2025 season featured appearances in 11 games at ECU with only four tackles and one pass breakup.
Among the holdovers are redshirt sophomore Doreon Dubose of St. Louis and redshirt freshman Jack Oliver from Cincinnati.
“We like Duke (Dubose) a lot,” Spack said. “Oliver had a good fall. We’ve got a lot of good young corners that can help us.”
That group also includes Alabama native Ju’Maria Hamilton, a redshirt freshman.
Tight end
Pick an ISU playoff game over the past two seasons and either Javon Charles or Scotty Presson Jr. made a big play.
The duo has departed, leaving big moments to a new crop of players.
The most experience belongs to Eastern Illinois transfer Alex Herrera, a former California juco player who spent the past two seasons in Charleston. He posted his career high in receptions (21) and receiving yards (222) last fall with EIU.
“Alex is very similar to Scotty,” Spack said. “We like him a lot.”
Spack said the Redbirds also will rely on Jacobs High School grad Nick True, who played in five games last season in Normal after transferring from FBS Illinois.
“He’s a real long, on the line of scrimmage guy. He can run. He’s athletic. He’s getting more physical every day,” Spack said. “He’s a tight end to watch.”
Senior Max Ziebarth, who has played in 41 career games mostly on special teams, and junior Brady Probst (four games played in 2025) also are expected to be in the mix.
Barry Bottino is a co-founder of Prairie State Pigskin and a 19-year veteran of three Illinois newspapers. He has covered college athletics since 1995.
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